Removable sediment container for rotating fluid system

ABSTRACT

A removable sediment container mounted within a rotatable fluid housing for collecting suspended deleterious materials which are thrown outwardly by virtue of the rotation of said housing through the impetus of centrifugal force. A plurality of removable sediment containers are disposed in angularly spaced relation about the periphery of the rotatable fluid housing.

United States Patent Schulz A REMOVABLE SEDINIENT CONTAINER FOR ROTATINGFLUID SYSTEM [75] Inventor: Gunter W. Schulz, Peoria, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, 111. [22] Filed: Mar.30, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 346,650

[52] US. Cl. 210/297, 192/85 AA, 210/307, 233/23 R [51 Int. Cl B0ld35/28 [58] Field of Search 210/304, 360 R, 380, 297, 210/307; 192/85 AA;233/2, 23 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,283,457 5/1942Pecker 210/380 11] 3,831,762 1 Aug. 27, 1974 2,665,008 l/1954 Call210/380 2,702,616 2/1955 Black et a1. 192/85 AA 3,561,367 2/1971 Blacket a1. 192/85 AA Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant ExaminerR. DanielCrouse Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Phillips, Moore, Weissenberger, Lempio &Strabala [57] ABSTRACT A removable sediment container mounted within arotatable fluid housing for collecting suspended deleterious materialswhich are thrown outwardly by virtue of the rotation of said housingthrough the impetus of centrifugal force. A plurality of removablesediment containers are disposed in angularly spaced relation about theperiphery of the rotatable fluid housing.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENTEumczmm arm-1r ear 2 REMOVABLESEDIMENT CONTAINER FOR ROTATING FLUID SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONRotating systems, such as fluid clutches, usually include a housing inwhich peripheral internal surfaces or blind pockets, remote from themain fluid flow paths, are extant. Upon rotation of such a housing,deleterious materials which are found in the fluid often tend to collectin these peripheral internal surfaces or pockets under the influence ofcentrifugal action. Such undesirable materials are not normally flushedout of the system because of the remote disposition of the collectionareas with respect to the main flow paths. As impurities andcontaminants build up upon the internal surfaces of the housing, therisk of serious wear and breakage greatly increases. The moving elementsof the rotating mechanism glide over these materials and experience wearwhile also tending to disperse the impurities to other portions of thesystem.

In order to decrease the possibility of damage or wear, sophisticatedfiltering systems as well as frequent servicing procedures for suchrotating assemblies have often been required in efficient operations.

An example of one type of such prior art fluid filtration system isshown in US. Pat. No. 2,651,919 to Venstrom. The Venstrom filtrationdevice is disposed within a valve housing which is primarily locatedwithin a normal flow path with the system vis a vis in a blind pocketarea.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The instant invention provides aneconomical and efficient, removable sediment container adapted for usein a rotatable fluid system housing and also provides an inexpensive andreadily servicable means for removing impurities or debris from thesystem fluid without requiring the dissassembly of the housing.

The main object ofthc present invention is to provide one or a pluralityof readily removable and installable sediment containers for the removalof deleterious ma-' terials without recourse to expensive and asophisticated filtration system.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a cross-sectional elevationof a portion of the housing of a rotating fluidclutch;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, isometric view of a removable sediment containershown in combination with the clutch housing in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of an alternate containerembodiment fabricated in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION member shown generally at .14. The transmissionclutch assembly is rotatably supported between a pair of stationaryhousing walls 16 and 18 and is mounted upon bearings 20 and 22. Powerinput from a shaft 24 is selectively communicated either to an outputgear 26 or to an output shaft 28, upon engagement of the rotating clutch14.

A support hub 30, having an internal bore 32, is pressed upon the inputshaft 24 and includes a cylindrical outer surface 34 upon which abalance piston 36 and a clutch engaging piston 38 are axially shiftableand upon which an intermediate wall 40 is fixed. The balance piston isdirectly connected to the clutch engaging piston through a plurality ofpins 42 which extend through a sealed bore 44 defined within the wall40. A plurality .of bolts 46 secure the pins 42 to the balance piston.The opposite ends of the pins are threadably engaged by the clutchengaging piston at 48.

The outer portion of the clutch assembly 12 consists of an end plate 50,an output gear hub 52, a clutch disc retainer 54 and an opposite endplate 56. These elements are held together by means of a plurality ofelongated, retaining bolts 58. The left hand plate 50 is removablysecured to the support hub 30 through a plurality of bolts 60. The rightend plate 56 is rotatably supported upon the bearing 22.

An annular balance piston chamber 62 is defined by the cylindrical outersurface 34 of the hub 30, the balance piston 36, and the wall 40, whichis integrally associated with the output gear hub 52. An annular clutchpiston engaging chamber 64 is defined by the outer surface 34 of thesupport hub 30, the clutch engaging piston 38, the wall 40 and the hub52.

Relatively high pressure hydraulic fluid, i.e., approximately 300 psi,is supplied through a pair of communicating passages 66 and 68 locatedin the input shaft 24 and support hub 30. The fluid passes to thechamber 64 and moves the piston 38 rightwardly to engage the rotatingclutch 14. In a similar manner, relatively low pressure hydraulic fluid,i.e., approximately 30 psi, is supplied through a passage 70 in theinput shaft and a passage 72 in the hub to the balance piston chamber62, and the piston retraction is made more positive by a plurality ofclutch disengaging springs 74 which encircle the pins 42.

Because the annular chambers 62 and 64 are peripherally located and areessentially blind pockets, located at the termini of flow passages,deleterious elements in the system fluid tend to be deposited bycentrifugal action upon the outer peripheral surfaces of these chambers.The present invention includes one or more removable sediment containers76, which are lo cated about the periphery of the rotating fluid system10 which serve as traps for such undesirable materials.

More particularly and with reference to FIG. 2, each sediment containerincludes a tubular member which has an outer end portion adapted to bereceived in a blind bore 82 defined in the cover plate 84. The outer endportion of the tubular portion is integrally secured to the cover plate84 which plate also includes a plurality of bores 86 which are adaptedto receive long bolts 58 and includes a bore 88 for receiving arelatively short retaining bolt 90.

As shown in FIG. 2, an inner end portion of the tubular member has anend wall 94 and an opening 92 which takes the form of an axiallyextended sector and which provides access to the internal sedimentretaining cavity 95. As shown in FIG. 1, when the tubular member isinserted into a bore 96 formed in the end plate 50 and into a blind bore98 in the hub 52, the opening 92 is disposed radially inwardly and isheld so because of the orientation of a cover plate as fixed by theattachment bolts. A relatively short passageway 100 communicates theouter peripheral portion of the piston-engaging chamber 64 with theopening 92 in the sediment container so that impurities mingled with thesystem fluid will pass radially outwardly under the influence ofcentrifugal force to be deposited within the cavity 95.

A plurality of such sediment containers 76 are, in the preferredarrangement, disposed about the periphery of the clutch assembly andeach is in communication with the chamber 64 by means of passagewayssuch as the passageway 100.

As shown, a plurality of similar sediment containers 76' are disposedabout the periphery of the clutch assembly in communication with thechamber 62. Any of the described sediment containers may be readilyremoved by means of detaching the bolts 58 and 90. This is all that isrequired for periodic cleaning of the containers during normal servicingof the associated trans mission.

An alternate version of the sediment container of the present inventionis shown in FIG. 3. A plurality of these alternate sediment containers102 which take the form of euplike members are removably peripherallyattached to the rotating clutch assembly 12 by means of a plurality ofbolts 104. An inwardly facing pocket 106 is defined by each containerand is adopted for communication with the passage 100 so that impuritiesmay be deposited on the interior surfaces thereof through thecentrifugal action of the rotating fluid. A screen 108 is disposablebetween the pocket and the passage 100 to provide a trap for particleswhich may build up upon and subsequently break off from the peripheralsurfaces of the pocket. Such a screen is particularly useful duringservicing of the sediment containers 102 which containers can experiencesome vibration or shock during removal. Such shocks or vibrations tendto loosen the accumulated material from the container surfaces and thescreen 108 prevents infiltration of such material to the critical innerconfines of the fluid system.

In view of the foregoing, it should be apparent that the presentinvention provides an improved removable sediment container system forrotatable fluid systems which effectively protects the hydraulic fluidsystem against the admission of debris, sediment and other deleteriousmaterials and which containers are easily accessible for servicing. Thesystem is uncomplicated and economically and efficiently performs theprotective sediment removal function required.

While the invention has been described and shown with particularreference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent thatvariations and modifications of these embodiments are possible withinthe spirit of the inventive concepts. No limitations are intended,except by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary fluid device having first rotating means and secondnon-rotating means and having means for circulating fluid therethrough,said device having internal surfaces therein which communicate with butare not part of main flow paths for said circulating fluid, containermeans connected to said first rotating means of said device forcollecting and retaining deleterious materials which pass with saidcirculating fluid through said main flow paths and which are depositedupon said internal surfaces by centrifugal force resultant upon rotationof said first rotating means of said rotary fluid device, said containermeans being accessible from the exterior of said rotary fluid device andremovable therefrom without disassembly of said first rotating meansfrom said second non-rotating means, said container means including aplurality of hollow members each having opening means therein forcommunicating with said internal surfaces to allow the passage of saiddeleterious materials from said internal surfaces into said hollowmembers. said hollow members being disposed in angularly spaced relationabout a peripheral portion of said first rotating means of said rotaryfluid device.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein each said hollow member iscylindrical and wherein said opening means takes the form of an axiallyextended sector cut into said hollow cylindrical member.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said hollow cylindrical member hasfirst and second axially spaced end portions and wherein said first endportion has a closure plate thereon and said second end portion isfixedly received within a cover plate member such that access to theinterior of said hollow cylindrical member is had only through saidopening means.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said hollow member is cup-shaped andis provided with a perforate flange portion for attachment to saidrotary fluid device.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein a screen member is disposed acrosssaid opening means.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein said hollow cupshaped member hasinterior shoulder means for engaging said screen member and forretaining the position thereof with respect to said hollow cup-shapedmemher.

7. The invention of claim 3 wherein said cover plate member has aplurality of apertures therein for attachment to said rotary fluiddevice.

1. In a rotary fluid device having first rotating means and secondnon-rotating means and having means for circulating fluid therethrough,said device having internal surfaces therein which communicate with butare not part of main flow paths for said circulating fluid, containermeans connected to said first rotating means of said device forcollecting and retaining deleterious materials which pass with saidcirculating fluid through said main flow paths and which are depositedupon said internal surfaces by centrifugal force resultant upon rotationof said first rotating means of said rotary fluid device, said containermeans being accessible from the exterior of said rotary fluid device andremovable therefrom without disassembly of said first rotating meansfrom said second non-rotating means, said container means including aplurality of hollow members each having opening means therein forcommunicating with said internal surfaces to allow the passage of saiddeleterious materials from said internal surfaces into said hollowmembers. said hollow members being disposed in angularly spaced relationabout a peripheral portion of said first rotating means of said rotaryfluid device.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein each said hollowmember is cylindrical and wherein said opening means takes the form ofan axially extended sector cut into said hollow cylindrical member. 3.The invention of claim 2 wherein said hollow cylindrical member hasfirst and second axially spaced end portions and wherein said first endportion has a closure plate thereon and said second end portion isfixedly received within a cover plate member such that access to theinterior of said hollow cylindrical member is had only through saidopening means.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said hollow member iscup-shaped and is provided with a perforate flange portion forattachment to said rotary fluid device.
 5. The invention of claim 4wherein a screen member is disposed across said opening means.
 6. Theinvention of claim 5 wherein said hollow cup-shaped member has interiorshoulder means for engaging said screen member and for retaining theposition thereof with respect to said hollow cup-shaped member.
 7. Theinvention of claim 3 wherein said cover plate member has a plurality ofapertures therein for attachment to said rotary fluid device.